Last fall, fifteen companies won preliminary licenses to grow medical marijuana in Maryland, but the new industry has since been mired in legal challenges. Erin Cox of the Baltimore Sun gets us up to speed. Then, a large-scale study of a compound in cannabis finds it can reduce seizures that don’t respond to typical treatments. We speak to Dr. Orrin Devinsky, director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at New York University Langone Medical Center. And Gail Rand, a mother, tells us how her son’s epilepsy prompted her to become an advocate for medical cannabis.

A stark picture of the toll that addiction is taking in Maryland came clear this month when the state issued its latest statistics: 2,089 people died from overdoses last year, an increase of two-thirds over 2015. Almost nine out of ten of these deaths were caused by opioids. In response to the epidemic, some are calling for approval of “safe consumption sites”--places where people can use illegal drugs with medical supervision.